Classic American musical 'Oklahoma!' now in DeTour until Aug. 4

Friday

Aug 2, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 2, 2013 at 12:09 PM

DETOUR — After 8 weeks of rehearsal, the DeTour Village Players are now applying finishing touches to their production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic American musical, Oklahoma!, which is scheduled to open Thursday night at 7:30, August 1, at DeTour Area School's Performance Center. Subsequent performances continue Friday and Saturday, also at 7:30, and Sunday at 2:30. General seating tickets will be available at the door. The box office opens an hour before curtain time. Ticket prices are $16 for adults, $5 for students K-12, and $15 for senior citizens, 65 or older.

DETOUR — After 8 weeks of rehearsal, the DeTour Village Players are now applying finishing touches to their production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic American musical, Oklahoma!, which is scheduled to open Thursday night at 7:30, August 1, at DeTour Area School's Performance Center. Subsequent performances continue Friday and Saturday, also at 7:30, and Sunday at 2:30. General seating tickets will be available at the door. The box office opens an hour before curtain time. Ticket prices are $16 for adults, $5 for students K-12, and $15 for senior citizens, 65 or older.

Twenty-two community theater performers have been cast in the show, ranging in age from 7 to 84. Most are from DeTour, but one actor, Tom McClure who plays Will Parker, hails from Albion in Southwest Michigan. McClure is a teacher of Special Ed. in Eaton Rapids, and has been a guest artist in DeTour for three previous summer productions: Into The Woods, The Centennial Pageant, and Greater Tuna. Heather Van Daele, who moved away from DeTour over a year ago, is returning to play the role of Laurie. Marshall Werner from Sault Ste. Marie is also returning this summer to play Curly. Two Drummond Islanders, Sandra Pumphrey and Sherry Bailey, who played Mother Abbess and Elsa, respectively, in last summer's "The Sound of Music," are cast as Aunt Eller and Ado Annie. The entire cast list is attached.

According to director Dave Rhinard, "This is a two act musical with lots of great songs, like "Oh What A Beautiful Morning", "Kansas City", "People Will Say We're in Love", and "Many A New Day", to name a few. Throw in several strong doses of comedy and a pinch of drama, and you have the recipe for a little over two hours of family entertainment. There is also some spirited dancing, but since ballet dancers were not available for this production, the rather lengthy ballet at the end of Act I has been cut."

A local benefactor has purchased 40 tickets for DeTour Arts and Technology students and DeTour/Drummond Area School students, K-12. These tickets will be set aside and can be picked up in the front office at Detour Area Schools during regular office hours Monday thru Friday, July 25 – August 2. Mr. Rhinard encourages parents to pick up the tickets as soon as possible. He explained, "Since there are only 40 free tickets available, it will be on a first come, first served basis."